engaging, educating, exploring…

Tag Archives: public engagement

Hi my name is Emily. I am the new Public Events Assistant at UCLan and from now on I will be taking over the EngageUCLan blog. I will be keeping you up to date with UCLan’s latest events and the Lancashire Science Festival.

I recently graduated from UCLan with a first class degree in Journalism. I had such a great time during my degree; learning shorthand, working as a team and producing news programmes, that I decided to return to UCLan as an intern!

During my internship I am hoping to gain lots of valuable experience that could help me throughout my career and I am really looking forward to getting started on the Lancashire Science Festival.

So if you don’t already, make sure to follow the EngageUCLan blog to find out about UCLan’s events.

Building Information Management Conference 2015
The Centre for Sustainable Development at UCLan will be hosting the conference by Constructing Excellence Lancashire exploring practical issues of Building Information Management (BIM) and providing a kick start to your 2015 collaborative and BIM development programmes.

Date: 20th Jan

Time: 1pm-5pm

Venue: Centre for Sustainable Development at UCLan and the Innovation Studio

More information and ticket bookings can be found here. For student discount places contact Andrea.

Institute for Black Atlantic Research showcase
We are inviting everyone to find out more about the exciting research being undertaken at our new Institute for Black Atlantic Research.

The event will feature presentations by research staff and students, among them acclaimed curators Christine Eyene (Guild Research Fellow in Contemporary Art) and Zoe Whitley (Curator of International Art, Tate Gallery).

This is a free event and all students, staff and members of the public are welcome. It also marks an opportunity to get to know people from the Institute, tell us about your research in the field of Black Atlantic Studies and find out about joining or becoming affiliated with this vibrant Institute.

Refreshments will be provided for attendees, and the research showcase will be followed by an informal dinner.

Date: Wed 21st of January

Time: 3pm-7pm

Venue: Media Innovation Studio (Media Factory, 4th floor)

For more details and booking information visit the website.

Book tickets for next month’s Darwin Day Celebration lecture
ADOLESCENCE: A SENSITIVE PERIOD FOR SOCIAL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT?

Next month the School of Psychology is proud to present our 10th annual Darwin Day Celebration Lecture, to be given by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (UCL).

Book your ticket for the free event now!
Picture the Poet Exhibition Launch, Harris Museum and Gallery.
Former student and staff from UCLan School of Language, Literature and International studies will be reading poetry at an exhibition that is being launched in the Harris Museum.

The event is a national exhibition of portraits of some of Britain’s finest poets and will include live reading performances by our local writers.

There will also be a live performance on the steps of the Harris Museum by poets Lorna Smithers, Nicolas Guy Williams and Phil Howard will perform his award-winning poem ‘Pauline in the Yellow Dress’ which is based on a portrait in the museum.

The programme will feature readings by award-winning poet and UCLan alumna, Lorna Smithers as well as former UCLan student Flora Martyr. Yvonne Reddick, poet, poetry expert at the School of Language, Literature and International studies will also be performing.

This is a free event – no need to book, just turn up.

Date: 24th January

Time: 11am – 4pm

Venue: Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Market Street, Preston, Lancashire PR1 2PP, United Kingdom (map)
Korova Poetry
Korova Poetry will be hosting an evening of poetry which will feature three headline slots, one of which is especially for students. The rest of the night is open mic, approximately 5 minutes each. Headliners include Lindsey Manfield, Martin Domleo and UCLan student Giulia Cumbria Canigiani. This is a free event and everyone is welcome.

The UCLan and Ri YSC Science Demo Competition
The competition is now open to all staff and students to take part and submit a short five minute demo that engages and excites children on a scientific topic of your choice.

Up for the challenge? For more information or to discuss ideas contact Sujata Patel.

The Public Engagement Team were thrilled to be a part of the UK’s first ever national festival of the humanities – Being Human Festival! We held a range of events, involving discussion, debate, public lectures, workshops and opportunities for the public to meet researchers.

The festival programme concentrated on activities that make humanities research accessible to the wider community and show the impact the role of humanities has on the cultural, political and social life of the UK.

Most of the festival was held at Korova Arts Café and Bar, in the heart of Preston city centre. Although St Andrews C of E Primary School joined in with the festival fun and visited UCLan’s Moot Court Room for a Live Trial Workshop! The children loved the session; getting fully into character, exploring right and wrongs, getting dressed up and learning interactively.

The week began with Lunchbox Sessions by Theresa Saxon, who delved into Charles Dickens and his relationship with the stage and Yvonne Reddick reading her beautiful poetry, held Tuesday and Wednesday 12.30-13.00. Both these sessions were incredibly presented and interesting!

Yvonne Reddick reading her amazing poetry

Theresa Saxon telling her audience about the side of Dickens many people have not seen

On Thursday evening, Will Kaufman performed the amazing Woodie Gurthie: Hard Times and Hard Travellin’ show, in which he set the songs of Woody Guthrie alive. He sang hard-hitting songs such as ‘Vigilante Man’ and ‘I Ain’t Got No Home’ and fascinated the audience!

The wonderful Will Kaufman

Saturday consisted of Coffee & Conversations sessions, which gave the public chance to talk to our academics about their research topics and their roles at the university. There were also talks held from 11.30am-15.30pm upstairs in the café. Alan Rice gave a fascinating session about the slave trade, exploring true stories of suffering around the world. Robert Poole and Peter Lucas discussed the first views of earth from space, and the philosophical side of seeing Earth from the moon- our place in the Universe. Then came a talk on the temperance movement in Preston by Annemarie McAllister, interactive with temperance songs and incredible images!

Annemarie talking about temperance!

Robert Poole

The festival was a great way of showcasing our academics excellent knowledge and talent! We would just like to take this opportunity to thank Korova and our academics for getting involved.

It’s the start of a new academic year and Engage UCLan is now part of the Research and Innovation Office. With the carnival atmosphere of RIO adding to our usual festival-powered excitement, it looks to be an interesting year 🙂

Jenny has spent the summer organising some super training opportunities for you all. Get these dates in the diary now!

MEDIA TRAINING- will be held on 10th & 11th October. This time round we’re offering this training to Catalysts only, but if all goes well, and it gets good feedback, we will run the course again for a wider audience.

COMEDY TRAINING- back by popular demand, Chris Head is returning to UCLan for another Stand-up Comedy Skills Session. Participants commented that the skills learnt were just as applicable to lecturing and giving conference presentations (especially dealing with hecklers!). Be warned, if you take part you will be expected to perform at some point. Training takes place 22nd November

HOW NOT TO COMMUNICATE YOUR RESEARCH- join two excellent science communicators, James Piercy and Matt Pritchard, as they take us on a hands-on experience of how not to do public engagement. Both James and Matt have performed at the Lancashire Science Festival; they’ll use their experience to demonstrate what works- and what doesn’t. This promises to be a laugh a minute, and really valuable too. Takes place 12th December.

COMMUNICATION USING BUSKING- science busking is a popular method of communicating short, sharp and engaging snippets of information. Come along to this workshop delivered by David Price of Science Made Simple, and develop the skills to engage people on the hop. Date TBC, early 2014.

All opportunities will be booked through iTrent- watch AU Lookout for details